{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.enzi.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/speeches?ContentRecord_id=7E915557-A3AE-4A58-A154-29065C1D1BC8", "Statement of Michael B. Enzi  Obamacare Choices and Costs", "2016-09-15", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "House", "WY", "Michael Enzi", "E000285", "www.enzi.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Mr. President, I don\u2019t always agree with what I read in the New York Times, but this caught my eye and I want to share it with my colleagues.\r\n\u201cSo much for choice.\u00a0 In many parts of the country, Obamacare customers will be down to one insurer when they go to sign up for coverage next year on the public exchanges.\u201d (Aug. 19, 2016, NYT The Upshot)\r\nJust a few years ago in 2013, President Obama was telling us:\r\n\u201cJust visit\u00a0healthcare.gov, and there you can compare insurance plans, side by side, the same way you\u2019d shop for a plane ticket on Kayak or a TV on Amazon.\u00a0 \u2026\u00a0 You\u2019ll find more choices, more competition, and in many cases, lower prices.\u201d\u00a0\r\nLast year, Wyoming became one of the growing number of states with one insurer on the Obamacare exchange.\u00a0 \u00a0And in the environment created by Obamacare, we have to hope that we can hold onto the one we have left.\u00a0\r\nBefore Obamacare, Wyoming had many challenges in our health care system \u2013 particularly high costs and the serious access challenges that come with being a frontier state.\u00a0 But we at least had choice.\u00a0 Under Obamacare, we saw one of our two carriers shut down by costs.\u00a0 Like other insurers across the country, this company focused on and dominated the Wyoming Obamacare exchange in the first year, and then the economics of Obamacare took hold \u2013 Patients were more costly than expected, premium rates don\u2019t quite cover medical expenses, and then\u2026 insolvency.\u00a0\r\nThe changes to the health care system that President Obama and a completely Democratic controlled Congress hammered through were sold as a positive change.\u00a0 Many of us thought otherwise, and said so at the time.\u00a0 But we were ignored or called fear mongers.\u00a0 And here we are today.\u00a0 Today, Wyoming continues to be one of the most expensive states for health care premiums.\u00a0\r\nDo you know the one thing Obamacare has done for Wyoming?\u00a0 We have more competition from other states for the most expensive health insurance premiums.\u00a0\u00a0 Misery loves company I guess.\u00a0 \u00a0This year, there are some states with premiums increases over 50 percent for 2017.\u00a0\r\nWe\u2019ve seen our individual market damaged, and we are seeing changes in our employer sponsored insurance as well.\u00a0 Everyone from the biggest corporation to small, one person operations are paying more and most are getting less.\u00a0\r\nAs a former small business owner, I tend to look at these issues from that perspective.\u00a0 In Wyoming, according to the Small Business Administration, there are 63, 289 small businesses.\u00a0 Those small businesses employ 132,085 people.\u00a0 In Wyoming, that\u2019s almost a third of all the adults in the state.\u00a0 Small Businesses are the backbone of our economy. \u00a0\u00a0\r\nSmall business owners in Wyoming and across the country are trying to figure out how to stay afloat.\u00a0 And so many, even though they aren\u2019t technically required to by Obamacare, try to offer help to their employees for health care.\u00a0 They do it because their employees need it, they feel like it\u2019s their responsibility, it may be a competitive advantage.\u00a0 But in today\u2019s health insurance market, they face the Obamacare combination of limited choice and seemingly limitless premium increases.\u00a0\r\nAccording to the Kaiser Family Foundation, since 2004, the average annual family premium for covered employees in small firms increased from $9,812 to $16,625.\r\nIt\u2019s clear to anyone paying attention that our health care system is hurting, but my Democratic colleagues and President Obama have essentially dismissed us as hypochondriacs.\u00a0 They tell us: it\u2019s working well, it\u2019s a success.\u00a0 Your premiums are high and you can\u2019t afford your deductible?\u00a0 Nonsense, your coverage is wonderfully comprehensive so you can\u2019t complain that your mortgage is less than your health insurance premium!\u00a0\r\nThe American people are facing more costly health care than ever before.\u00a0 There has been a complete refusal by the Administration, and Democrats in both chambers, to entertain any real changes to Obamacare.\u00a0\u00a0 Their roll out was a mess, their rules and regulations are crushing, and their costs are sky high.\u00a0 And at the end of the day, anybody can get covered but nobody can afford it.\u00a0\u00a0 Not much of a choice.\u00a0\r\nI urge the Senate to look at this issue and acknowledge what the law is really doing.\u00a0 And we need to go beyond simply providing short-term relief like the President\u2019s waivers, exceptions and delays.\u00a0 We need long-term, comprehensive changes that will lead us to sustained recovery.\u00a0\r\nI have been working to find a path forward that will give more flexibility to states, fewer restrictions for how employers help their employees with medical expenses, and to find practical ways to offer more choices and lower costs for getting the health care that Wyomingites and all Americans should be able to access.\u00a0 We need meaningful, comprehensive change in health care that will take us away from Obamacare, and in a new direction.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.enzi.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/speeches?ContentRecord_id=7E915557-A3AE-4A58-A154-29065C1D1BC8"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2101647444069386, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}